


Strange,Strange Customs

by Merfilly



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Jingle Bells Batman Smells Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-02
Updated: 2011-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:56:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1235761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First Titans' Christmas</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange,Strange Customs

"Robin!" Wonder Girl's voice was imperative. "Is he 'shaking' that man down with some strange sonic device?" she asked once he had turned his attention her way. Robin looked in the direction of her discreet point, and then a smile cracked his lips under the domino.

"No, Wonder Girl; it's just a Salvation Army Santa ringing a regular old bell. The people give money to help out at this time of year."

"Why? Why this time of year? Why is he in the red costume? Is he a hero? Or is it a uniform. You mentioned an Army," Wonder Girl pointed out.

Robin stopped, and realized they had hit another one of those pop culture bridges that seemed to teeter into being every now and then with either Wonder Girl or Aqualad, and he was betting Aqualad was just as lost by such signs of Christmas being in the air. Pretty soon the streets would be decorated, and the big tree would go up in the big cities and there'd be lots more Santas running around and...well, there was a lot, and that wasn't even touching the religious side of it.

"Hey, everyone, meet back up at the cave!" he called over their comm. "It's quiet tonight, and we need to talk a few things over."

"Loud and clear, Robin! I'm freezing my tail off anyway," Speedy said.

"You?" Robin retorted; pixie boots weren't much to keep the cold from his feet, let alone his legs. His respect for the Rockettes went up a little higher.

"Whine a little, Feather-Head!" Kid Flash came over the comm. "On my way, Robin!"

"Umm...I never left," Aqualad offered up. "Or I did, but there were these strings of lights over on Fifth, and I might have made some workers mad when I got tangled up in them while chasing a purse snatcher..."

"Oh, that's okay. It's part of my meeting," Robin promised him, before letting Wonder Girl pick him up for the flight back.

"Are we having a meeting because I did not recognize the Army man?" Wonder Girl asked him cheerfully.

"Sort of. But I figure I need back-up, and Aqualad is just as lost," Robin answered her.

"Okay then!"

`~`~`~`~`

Wonder Girl and Aqualad were left to acquire food for the meeting, while the other three boys all leaned their heads in. Kid Flash was shocked that there was anyone in the world that was untouched by the commercialism of the season, while Speedy just kind of shook his head at the whole idea of having to play Christmas Missionary.

"I have a recorded-from-TV copy of the Charlie Brown special," Kid Flash volunteered.

"That would show both sides of the religious and the commercial to a degree," Robin agreed, and was left with the breeze of his best friend disappearing to go get it. "This is going to be fun, you know?" Robin mentioned to Speedy. "No frames of reference, at all."

"No sweat. Between us three and Linus, we'll get them to understand it," Speedy promised him.

"Got it!" Kid Flash offered, holding up the beaten VHS copy of the oft-repeated special.

"Ought to track down a copy of _A Christmas Story_ ," Speedy mused.

"NO!" both the other boys said, vehemently vetoing him.

"It was just an idea," Speedy defended himself.

The three boys turned and faced the two clueless heroes, both holding drinks, popcorn, and pointing at the table with pizza and chips.

"Why do I feel we are in for a hazing ritual?" Aqualad asked a little nervously.

"It's not that bad!" Kid Flash promised, before zipping to the VCR and sliding the tape in, grabbing up the remotes.

"Think of this as an educational film, and we'll have a Q and A after," Robin said, as Speedy dimmed the lights.

`~`~`~`~`

"Was the dog-thing once a human Circe had encountered? Is that why he was able to understand so much?" Wonder Girl asked.

"What kind of sorcerers were those children, that they transmogrified the tree so thoroughly?" Aqualad followed up with.

Robin and Speedy face-palmed as one, while Kid Flash kind of groaned in mocking horror.

"Okay, first off...cartoon, just like on Saturday morning," Robin began, looking at both of them evenly. "Secondly...where do you two come up with these questions?"

Wonder Girl and Aqualad looked at each other, and then grinned. "It was worth it for the looks on all your faces," Wonder Girl said. "Seriously, this is a winter holiday celebrating a covenant between a god and the mortal world through a sacrificial child, and mortals, having difficulty understanding the gravity of such, have invented rituals and defamed the spirit by making it all about them."

Three boys' jaws dropped as they processed just what she had said, and it was Kid Flash protesting.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait, no!"

"I think she hit it dead on, bullseye," Speedy would, but the seriously gone-on-the-girl look he was using on Wonder Girl made Robin worry more about his sanity than anything.

"I don't think it's defamation," Aqualad said slowly. "This god gave something precious to him to the people. Now, people are supposed to do this in effigy, which can be powerful magic in itself," he added.

Robin considered this, looked at Kid Flash who shrugged, and then over at Speedy who was making calf-eyes at Wonder Girl.  "I think that is the best we're going to get out of this."

"But it does leave one important question!" Kid Flash pointed out, so that all eyes did turn his way.

"What's that, Fleetfeet?" Speedy drawled, curious about his friend being the one with a question.

"When are we buying the tree?"

`~`~`~`~`

The tree was an artificial one, because they would be gone so much. They decided on a star for the top, rather than the angel. Robin's ornaments were traditional red and green. Speedy somehow found real yellow ones, rather than gold. Kid Flash had gone with red and white ones, while Wonder Girl's ornaments all looked like a walking patriotism display. Aqualad had looked at the commercial options, then disappeared, coming back with sunken treasure and empty shells to use.

Five garlands of tinsel, three that were shades of red, and one in gold with a green one to round it out, were wound around the tree in haphazard symmetry. The consensus on lights had been to use the small bulb multi-color strings, upon which decision being made, the whole cave exploded in Christmas lights, not just the tree.  Of course, Robin was betting the lights didn't come down any earlier than Easter when they had to explain the Easter Bunny.

Alfred had sent a thermos of Cocoa, and Speedy had liberated a couple of canisters of the Danish cookies from Green Arrow. Kid Flash had brought fruitcake, insisting they had to try it. Surprisingly, Aqualad liked it.

Once the tree was fully decorated, and the snacks had been had, Wonder Girl looked at her friends, quiet and smiling softly.  "I think I am going to love my first Christmas with all of you."

"Yeah...first of many," Speedy said with a fervent wish that nothing ever change.

"You said it, Speedy," Robin said, before leaning back to look at the first Christmas tree he had felt was real since the last time his folks had put a tiny one on the table in their travel trailer.


End file.
